Posts Tagged ‘email’

Sometimes employees within a large company don’t really know what people are saying about them on the outside.

Solution:

Sure, most people know about the big news headlines on your company, but not everyone knows about all the little conversations and stories that spread.

So every once in a while (or on a regular basis) do a google or a twitter search for your company and find something interesting that people are saying. Then send a link to your group, or to people within the company who you think might care about that particular story or item. If there are entire internal communities on that subject, send the link to the email distribution list.

It might cause a stir if your company is misrepresented or some information is inaccurate, but that’s not really your purpose (unless you want it to be.) What this will do is make you known as someone who’s connected, who has the pulse on what’s happening on the outside. It might establish you as some kind of expert, or a ‘go to’ person in certain situations.

Sure, anyone can search google or twitter and find the same info, but the fact is they didn’t. You did. And you shared it with those who care.

People get too many emails every day that are just boring. The same old thing, somebody wants some information, or to have a meeting, there’s an announcement about a charity fundraiser, a broadcast message that the parking lot will be under construction, you know what I mean.

Solution:

If you’re going to write so much every day in emails, why not make them interesting? Write in poetry or prose. You’ll really catch someone off guard and maybe even spread a trend. You’ll find other closet poets emerge sending you their masterpieces and you get to know who has much of a right brain or sense of humor in your office.

If you need to send a short message or give a quick reply, just try putting a little rhythm and rhyme to it and see what happens. If your note needs to be longer, just throw in a little poem at the end

Granted, it will take you a little longer to put the words together, but you’ll have created something worth reading, and will have injected a little fun into someone’s day. It’s something to talk about.

There are some good things happening in your corporation that need more visibility and recognition.

or

There are some things happening that are terribly wrong.

or

You have a good idea that needs support.

or

You feel disconnected with what’s happening at the top and in other parts of the company.

or there could be a zillion more problems that this idea could address. (I’m seriously reconsidering this format because many of these grootship ideas could address multiple problems.)

Solution:

Send an email to your CEO. Although I can’t confirm it, my hypothesis is that everyone thinks they are so busy and they get so many emails that they couldn’t possibly reply to you, but in reality, because everyone thinks that, nobody sends them emails.

Oh sure, they probably get a lot of status emails from their VPs and whatnot, and I’m sure they really are super busy, but I’ll bet they don’t get too many emails from people on the front lines. Or if they do, it’s probably a bunch of disgruntled employees just ranting on what a horrible job they’re doing. So don’t be one of those kind.

Here’s what you need to do when emailing your CEO:

Be brief.

Be respectful, even complimentary, but keep it sincere.

Ask for a specific request that he or she can do easily or delegate to someone else.

You might be surprised at what kind of response you’ll get. They have a reputation to keep, and it’ll probably be fun for them because it’s so out of the ordinary.

You can also try this with other relevant executives that might be able to help your effort.

And if they are really helpful or don’t seem to mind the correspondence, then go ahead and open the correspondence by emailing them more often. Be careful not to abuse it. Maybe start with once a month, or every couple of weeks if you have something relevant to say. It will only take a few back and forth responses in a respectful conversation to become ‘known’. And that can be very beneficial down the road.

Your CEO is a human being just like you. And a sincere online conversation between two people can sometimes break down the barriers of titles or positions.